Whats the fastest anyone here has gone on the drum brakes? Did you feel safe?My car still currently has drum brakes all the way round, and I plan on taking it to the track next month. But I'm kinda worried about stopping at the end.(I know should'a been my first mod) I took it out tonight and was driving it "spiritedly" and went to stop once kinda hard it was ok, about a min. later I did the same thing and it had brake fade bad. I thinking I'll be ok if I only have to stop once, but thought I'd ask the experts here first. Also what can I expect my car to run? Mods are....... 5.0, b303 cam, TFS TW 185 cnc heads, edelbrock air gap intake, powerjection, T70 turbo running 6psi might go to 10psi by october, C4 with shift kit, 3.80 rear w/ locker on 255/60/15 street tires(I know this will probably hurt my time pretty bad), and probably about 500lbs of weight reduction. This is a 4 door btw. Thanks, Danny
Used to trip the lights in 12 sec at a buck twenty with my blue mav. Never had a brake fade issue, as there was plenty of time for a cool down between rounds. I used to adjust em loose too for less friction while screaming down the track (Oldtimers trick) I dont recommend it on a car that can do 120mph + in the quarter...LOL... Your trap times are gonna suffer as well as your 60 ft with street tires soo, no guess on an et from me. Have fun man!!!
is this the same car you did the 150 yard burnout with? if it is, you need to fix that before you go... "Put the bench seat in, took it out for a test drive, did about a 150yd burnout"
Yes but that was on a very long straight road so the brakes weren't needed then, but I understand what you mean.
That's what I was figuring about cool down between races, but I thought I'd ask. My dad told me he used to adjust the brakes loose for racing too, sounds kinda sketchy to me!
If you've never made a pass at that track before talk to some other racers and see how the shutdown is.Our local track has a long shut down i can let off at the strip at 120 and let the motor pull itself down a good ways before ever touching my brakes.But our shut down is 1/4 mile long also
I run 12.2 at 112mph with drum brakes, depending on your tracks shutdown area is how your brakes will perform. my local track has 3 turn outs past the finish line and I can't make the first 2 so I use the 3rd turn out which is a 1/4 mile from the finish as my local track runs top fuel and funny car so it has a full 1/4 mile shut down. so just check your tracks shut down length.
as you've already learned.. those brakes are good until they get too hot after repeated stops. So, one good slowdown at the end of the quarter shouldn't be an issue at all if they are in good working order to begin with. My guess is just a bit more than 12.5 seconds. 12.7 maybe? you'll need sticky tires and decent stall speed to really whittle that time down to match the power you're making there. With 10 psi.. you'll easily be into the 11's when everything's working together. Then again.. 500 pound reduction will help the et a lot so you may make it under 12.5. But.. I might consider putting a hundred pounds of that back in over the rear tires to help with traction.
I ran drum brakes on my last Maverick at the strip and had no issues. I raced it in a foot brake class leaving on a 5000 stall and the car ran 11.40-11.50's. It is my opinion that if the brake components are fresh and are properly adjusted that you will not have any problems.
Thanks everyone for the opinions, I'm planning on running it at Richmond dragway. I've never been there but I think it has a 1/4 mile shutdown. I may go to VA motorsports park, they have a long shut down I know that for a fact. I'm about equal distance from either track. I knew I was forgetting something it has a 2500 stall in it, I'd like to get a 3000 stall for it eventually though. Those are better times then what my friends were guessing, they said 13.1 mostly due to street tires. I'd be happy with mid 12's on 6 psi.
Brakes should be fine for drag racing. You may be into the 11's with your car if you can peddle it out if the hole and get into the boost early enough without roasting the tires. It sounds like your engine will be making some power.
